SP Misra dispels doubts over harmony in Indian tennis team

The recent shenanigans over team selection and a player-boycott notwithstanding, the Indian team Wednesday presented itself as a unified unit all set to take on Indonesia in the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup Group 1 play-off beginning here Friday. Team captain Shiv Prakash Misra, one of the key elements in the dispute between the country’s top players and the All India Tennis Association, went some distance to convince the media that everything was hunky-dory within the squad. [caption id=“attachment_686501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  SP Misra and Somdev. AFP[/caption] Conspicuous by his absence at the media conference here Wednesday was veteran Leander Paes, who is set to play his 50th Davis Cup tie. It was explained that Paes had to rush to Mumbai due to an “emergency” and was returning Wednesday night. The nature of the “emergency” was not disclosed. “The atmosphere in the team is very good. The players are working very hard and we look to win the tie,” said the 71-year-old Misra who will be stepping down as Davis Cup captain on conclusion of this weekend’s tie. Echoing the views were Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri and Sanam Singh who said that the focus was on the tie. Earlier this year, the players, led by Devvarman, had demanded, among other things, that Misra be replaced as the team captain. The dispute snowballed into a controversy with Devvarman along with other top players opting to make themselves available for the tie with Korea in February. IANS